Does Your Brand have an Effective Local-Social Strategy?

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Now that Social Media has become mainstream, many brand managers are wondering how to effectively integrate social media into their marketing mix. Social media is not only important for SEO purposes, it is also crucial to consumers that brands are active on social. In this article we’re going to discuss the importance of a local social strategy to encourage consumers to interact with your business both online in a physical location.

Optimizing Social for Local

Enterprise level brands have the ability to create both corporate (parent) and individual store (child) pages on Facebook. With child pages, brands are able to position themselves as part of consumers sphere of influence by sharing expertise with engaging posts and promotions related to specific locations. In order to fully optimize your Facebook child pages your brand must first claim all locations on Facebook to ensure ownership. Once locations have been claimed, the next step is to ensure your Facebook pages are consistently up to date with the proper NAP (Name, Address, and Phone number) to establish your profile as an authentic account.

Managing data, claiming locations and publishing relevant content to every local Facebook page can seem like a daunting task for brand managers. A best practice is to utilize a tool that can do this for you. From publishing social media messages to specific locations, to reviewing all social activity within one dashboard, utilizing available technology to manage your online reputation in real time is crucial.

The Value of a Check-in

Once all of your brands locations have been claimed on Facebook, your customers have the ability to check-in to your locations. For consumers, check-ins are one of the strongest factors when deciding what to purchase and from where. This is because these check-ins are visible on that consumer's own Facebook page, spreading a virtual word of mouth about your location with their friends. Tech-savvy marketers are beginning to understand how check-ins promote their brand online. Not only are Facebook Check-ins shared on your customer’s pages, they’re also highlighted on business pages, where Google and other search engines take notice.

Conclusion

The increased usage of social media networking among American adults has forced marketing efforts to go where the consumers are: on social. It is crucial that your brand creates a strong social strategy to stay relevant and communicate with consumers online - especially at a local level. Every day, consumers are checking into locations, posting social media status updates, and writing business reviews online. Is your brand ready and equipped with the appropriate tools to engage with these local audiences on social?

Start your free Brandify trial today and see how effortless your local marketing strategy can be.